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Healy Plastic Surgery & Med Spa
As time gracefully passes, our faces can subtly lose the youthful volume that once defined our contours, leading to hollows and a less vibrant appearance. At Healy Plastic Surgery in Honolulu, we offer Facial Fat Transfer, a sophisticated procedure that harnesses your body's own natural resources—your purified fat—to replenish lost volume.
Dr. Jeff Healy meticulously sculpts and restores fullness to areas like the cheeks, temples, or under eyes, ensuring a remarkably natural and harmonious rejuvenation. This personalized approach enhances your inherent beauty, allowing you to regain a refreshed and balanced facial profile that truly reflects your inner vitality.
Facial fat transfer, also known as facial fat grafting or autologous fat grafting, is a sophisticated plastic surgery procedure that harnesses your body's own resources to restore youthful volume and sculpt facial contours.
At Healy Plastic Surgery in Honolulu, Dr. Healy precisely extracts excess fat from areas where it is available (such as the abdomen or thighs) using gentle liposuction, purifies it, and then meticulously reinjects it into areas of the face that have lost volume due to aging or other factors. With an extensive understanding of facial anatomy, Dr. Healy designs each facial plastic surgery procedure to achieve a fuller, smoother, and more harmonious facial appearance.
Your facial fat transfer journey with Dr. Healy begins with an in-depth consultation to identify areas of volume loss and discuss your desired enhancements. The procedure in our AAAASF-certified in-office OR involves three main steps.
First, fat is gently harvested from a donor site via liposuction. Next, the extracted fat is meticulously purified and processed to isolate healthy fat cells. Finally, with his artistic precision, Dr. Healy carefully injects tiny amounts of this purified fat into specific facial areas to create natural contours and address hollows.
Facial fat transfer effectively addresses various concerns related to facial volume loss and contours, including:
Facial fat transfer specifically addresses areas of volume loss and contouring needs on the face, including the cheeks, temples, under-eyes, chin, and jawline.
Individuals experiencing signs of facial volume loss, deep creases, or a gaunt appearance, who are in good general health, have realistic expectations, and possess sufficient donor fat for harvesting, are typically ideal candidates for facial fat transfer with Dr. Healy.
Recovery after facial fat transfer involves some swelling and bruising in both the treated facial areas and the liposuction donor site. Mild discomfort is manageable with medication.
You will need to keep your head elevated and avoid strenuous activity. Swelling typically subsides significantly within 1-2 weeks, though minor residual swelling may linger for a few months. Dr. Healy and his caring team will provide comprehensive post-operative instructions for optimal healing.
Immediate volume is visible after facial fat transfer. However, some initial swelling will be present, and a portion of the injected fat cells may not survive. Finally, stable results become apparent after 3-6 months as the fat settles and swelling fully resolves.
Once transferred, fat cells establish a new blood supply (usually within 3-6 months), and they are considered permanent. While natural aging continues, the added volume from fat transfer can last for many years, offering a very long-term solution compared to temporary fillers.
Choosing a surgeon for facial fat transfer requires surgical skill and a profound artistic sensibility to ensure natural, harmonious results. Dr. Healy, a board-certified plastic surgeon with over two decades of refined surgical expertise, including 23 years as a military physician, possesses an unparalleled eye for facial balance and volume restoration.
He meticulously performs every step of the fat transfer process, from gentle harvesting to precise micro-injections, creating a rejuvenated appearance that truly enhances your innate beauty. Dr. Healy personally guides each surgical patient, complemented by a unique offer of complimentary lifetime follow-up within our private, AAAASF-certified in-office surgical suite in Honolulu.
Fat harvesting (liposuction) and fat injections are performed under anesthesia, ensuring comfort. Post-procedure discomfort is usually mild and manageable.
Dr. Healy uses advanced techniques to maximize fat cell survival, but a small percentage of transferred fat cells may not take. This is factored into the initial amount injected.
Facial fat transfer offers much longer-lasting results, often considered permanent after the initial survival phase, compared to temporary dermal fillers, which typically last 6-18 months.
Fat harvesting involves very small incisions (a few millimeters) that heal virtually imperceptibly. Facial injections use tiny needles that leave no noticeable marks.
Yes, it is commonly combined with facelifts, eyelid surgery, or other facial rejuvenation procedures for a more comprehensive aesthetic transformation. Since the autologous fat transfer procedure involves harvesting fat, many patients combine their facial rejuvenation with a full liposuction treatment.
